Butterflies are artists who fly around With paintings in both the hands They exhibited paintings to the people When there was no such practice Later cave paintings, murals and canvases emerged The fleeting butterflies still fly around with paintings As larva they had no paintings at hand They are both worms and painted wings They combine ugliness with beauty and make the ugly beautiful Human childhood walks after the flying butterflies Holding a painting in each hand Humans shed their wings when they grow And then they crawl as worms for the rest of the life.

Translated from Malayalam by Ajay Sekher

S Joseph is a leading poet in Malayalam. He teaches at Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam. Mobile: 9745159490